This easy ice cream recipe only uses two main ingredients (3 if you count vanilla extract) and it does not require an ice cream machine! Whipped cream mimics the air you get through traditional churning and sweetened condensed milk gives it a luxurious texture and custardy flavor. It produces a rich and creamy ice cream that’s a perfect base for a variety of mix-ins. We love this with crushed cookies, a swirl of caramel or chocolate, or dollops of fruit jam.
Ingredients Needed
- Heavy Whipping Cream – Heavy whipping cream will provide a creamier, richer, softer finished ice cream, but you could use regular whipping cream in a pinch.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Flavorings or Add-Ins, If Desired
- Vanilla or Other Extracts
- Crushed Cookie Crumbs
- Caramel or Chocolate Fudge
- Fruit Jam
How to Make Two Ingredient Ice Cream
- Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk into a bowl and add some vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl or stand mixture, whip cream until medium-stiff peaks form.
- You’ll add your whipped cream to your sweetened condensed milk mixture in 3 separate additions. The first addition, you’ll stir the whipped cream in to lighten the whole mixture, after that, you’ll fold in the remaining whipped cream. You don’t want to just dump it in and stir. To fold means to take a little bit at a time, and gently move your rubber spatula from the bottom of the bowl, around up to the top. This keeps the fluffy air in the cream as opposed to deflating it while stirring.
- At this point you can fold in anything you like: fresh fruit, crushed cookies, spices, etc. You can mix it into your whole bowl of ice cram base, or add it in by layers right into your container, like I’m doing in these photos with some berry sauce.
- Place your container in the freezer until the ice cream is firm; usually about 6-8 hours.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store your finished ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer and eat at your leisure. My favorite containers for homemade ice cream are these 8 cup Oxo Glass Storage Containers.
- Experiment with different flavors- we love crushed Oreos, fresh berries, cinnamon-graham cracker with apple pie filling, peanut butter banana with chocolate chips, Nutella, chocolate or caramel sauce, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is no-churn ice cream the same texture as churned ice cream?
It’s pretty close to other homemade ice creams, but the flavor of the sweetened condensed milk comes through and it’s a little more rich and creamy! You may find it a bit firmer and more dense than some store-bought ice creams that tend to have a very airy consistency that aids in keeping it soft and scoopable. But it is every bit as delicious!
Two Ingredient Ice Cream {No Machine Required!}
This easy ice cream has only two main ingredients and doesn’t require an ice cream maker. If you happen to have one, though, there are instructions included for that as well.
Servings 1/2 Cup Servings (estimate)
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 tablespoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pour can of sweetened condensed milk into a large mixing bowl and whisk in vanilla. Set aside.
- Pour whipping cream into a separate bowl or stand mixer and whip until medium peaks form.
- Take one large spoonful of whipping cream and stir it into the sweetened condensed milk mixture vigourously until smooth. This should lighten your mixture so you can now gently fold in the remaining whipping cream in additions.
- Add the remaining cream to the sweetened condensed milk mixture in 3 additions, gently folding in each time until mixture is smooth.
- At this point you can stir in additions if you like, or you can layer them into your container by placing a layer of ice cream mixture, then swirling in some toppings, then layering in more ice cream mixture, etc. until you use all of your base mixture.
- Pour into container and freeze for at least 6-8 hours or until firm.
Notes
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- Store your finished ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer and eat at your leisure.
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- Experiment with different flavors- we love crushed Oreos, mashed banana, fresh strawberry, cinnamon-graham cracker with apple pie filling, peanut butter banana with chocolate chips, Nutella, you can’t really go wrong here, folks! Good ol’ fashioned caramel from a jar works just fine too.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cup, Calories: 244kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 56mg, Sodium: 53mg, Potassium: 162mg, Sugar: 19g, Vitamin A: 671IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 120mg, Iron: 0.1mg
Calories: 244kcal
Cost: 6
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Questions & Reviews
I have what I need at home. Will be making this tonight. Then will top the apple pie in a jar. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
ooohhh emmm geeeee! i am running to the grocery store to buy these 2, or er…3 ingredients.
i just read your post about the SMUCKERS thingy you guys were at this past week. so glad you got to try farenheit. seriously is my fav restaurant….i live in cleveland!! xo
I am so amazed that this comes out looking just like ice cream out of a carton! I can’t believe how perfect the texture is. It is really good, too. But REEEEEAAAAALLLY rich. My husband loves ice cream and can usually down half a carton in one sitting. He had a few scoops of this and it kinda made him sick. He has such a tough stomach to sweetness so that surprised me. I could only have a few bites too before it was too much. Are we weird?
I just tried the boil-a-can-of-condensed milk caramel. It is going to be soooo good over this ice cream!!
I made this for everyone who came to my house to watch conference today and everyone loved it! and when I told them how simple it is to make they loved it even more!!! Thanks so much!
Loved this! We made it for FHE and I divided it into lots of little containers so the kids could do their own flavor serving–we had nutella peanut butter, pumpkin, pina colada, almond with butterscotch chips, mint chocolate–what an easy yummy treat!
Fabulous idea!! I love make your own adventures!
How am I 36 years old and just now hearing about this “no machine necessary” method?!? I bought a quart of Whipping Cream and my four year-old and I made two batches. One vanilla with mini chocolate chips the other (which turned out a little soft) I added cherry flavoring, pineapple flavoring and about 2/3 cup peach mango jam from Costco. I was skeptical, as was the rest of the fam, but lo and behold, it was indeed ice cream! And it was delicious.
Update, I checked on the one we made with jam the following day and it did end up totally solid, but still a little too sweet. (Sugar in the jam was smallkine overkill–not inedible, mind you, it IS ice cream after all.)
That’s so clever! I will have to try it very soon. My husband is an ice cream lover, and I can’t wait to try many different flavors. Thanks so much for sharing!
This is just ridiculous. Insanely easy and ubergood. I had a hard time *not* eating all the mixture before I froze it. I figured if the spatula tasted that good, I can’t wait for the frozen version.
I put some on top of some hot homemade applesauce (also insanely easy) and it’s almost a crime how good it is.
BTW, the mixture can be frozen, then left to thaw on the counter over night, then refrozen the next day. Just ask my teenager. He’s lucky it refroze successfully.
I tried this yesterday and oh-my-yum I’m never buying store bought vanilla ice cream again!